Gravity
by dragonheartt
Summary: It starts at the beginning and never stops. Somehow, Connor Temple went from the dorky boy whose attempts at flirting made her shake her head in a mixture of amusement and irritation, to the love of her very existence - a brilliant, truly good man. One shots from S1 to S5. Conby, other cannon ships on the side.
1. Chapter 1

Gravity

_Chapter One: Distraction Techniques_

Abby pushed her bangs out of her face, irritatedly tucking the stray hairs behind her ear again. It didn't stay out of her eyes for long, quickly falling back into place. Her irritation was not helped in the least by a certain team member currently prattling non stop about something or other. Generally, she was amused by Cononr Temple. He was a boy still, despite being older than her, and she tried to be gentle with his attempts at flirting. Still, she liked him well enough. They were friends, mates. That did not stop his unceasing babbling from annoying her, especially in the humidity and heat of the small space they were currently making their way through.

Cutter was in front of her, Connor directly behind, whilst Stephen brought up the rear, making sure their bumbling geek didn't get himself eaten by his own distractability. Well, that may have been a little unfair,but it was sort of true. He did have a tendency to end up dinosaur-bait in some way or other. A lot.

"Connor, shut up!"

He immediately stopped talking, and she could easily imagine the hurt look in his doe-like eyes, looking a lot more like a kicked puppy than anyone his age had a right to look.

"Sorry. I was going on a bit, yeah?" His voice was quieter, and she wondered why that was. SHe didn't think it was her snappign at him - he usually recovered from that rather quickly. She shook her head a little and carried on, making her way on hands and knees, trying not to bump into Cutter in front of her,

"Oof! Connor, what're you doing? You idiot, move!" Steven sounded a lot more irritated than she had, if that was possible. "C'mon, what's the holdup Temple?"

"What's wrong back there, Steven?" Cutter called over his shoulder, stopping. Abby noticed in time and wriggled around until she could half-turn and look at Connor. The narrow tunnel was dim, but even in the litttle light they had, she could tell he was pale. And apparently frozen to the spot. He took a shuddering breath and swallowed almost audibly.

"Connor's not moving." Steven said, sounding rather put-upon. Abby hid her grin, focusing on Connor. He looked like he was ready to bolt, if there'd been enough room to do so.

"Sorry." His voice was even quieter than before. "Erm... just a little..." He swallowed again and look at Abby for a second, shaking his head. "I don't like small places like this."

"He's claustrophobic, he means." Cutter's voice floated back to them. Connor's squeak of protest didn't do much for her impression of him.

"You were fine before, Connor." She pointed out, trying to ignore the stifling heat for a few moments. This was not something they could just pretend was a simple irritation - it wasn't simply that he was afraid of the tunnel, it was a real phobia. Which meant they had to deal with it right then and there. The anomaly was supposedly at the end of this tunnel, in a larger underground space near the Tube. The other acccess point had been blocked by debris apparently kicked up by a creature. The worker who'd seen the strange light had run screaming about a gigantic bear-dog-thing, and both he and the creature had caused things to fall and cover the other exit. Which was in a way a good thing, as it meant the creature couldn't get out, either.

"I... I was distracting myself." His voice sounded strained and she tried to see him more clearly in the darkness.

"That's why you wouldn't shut up?"

"Mhm." Connor mumbled.

"Sorry Connor, I shouldn't have yelled and broken you from your concentration."

"You didn't know." He said shortly. Steven was physically stopping Connor from trying to back up down the tunnel in his panic. She racked her brains, and turned to look at Cutter.

"Erm, Connor, what are your theories on the type of creature that came through this Anomaly?" Cutter asked, sparing Abby from racking her brains for a topic.

"Huh? Er, well... Mesonyx, maybe? It's not actually a wolf or a bear, but at a short glance it's suppsoed ot look like one..." The paleontology student said hesitantly.

"That's a possibility. But I was thinking more along the lines of Hemicyon. It was more doglike than bearlike, but based on the witness' description it seems likely that that was the case." Cutter suggested. Connor blinked, frowning slightly, mulling it over. She hid the smile - there were moments like this where he was serious and actually used his brilliant mind.

"What about Amphyicon? That fits better then Hemicyon, righ' Professor? The overall size and proportions, as well as projected habits..." Soon enough Connor and Cutter were lost in prehistoric zoological babble, distracting Connor from his claustrophobia, and they were on the move again. Abby was impressed - he had been determined not to loose himself in his panic. And she was even more impressed when Connor used a leftover sheet of scrap metal as a shiel to protect himself, and Abby, from the Amphyicon's rending claws succesfully.

About a half hour later, though, having succesully put the Amphyicon back through the anomaly and with SF's to guard it until it sealed it self, and they were safe and sound on the drive back to the ARC, and Connor was back to his terrible flirting attempts that just made her irritated with him again, and babbling about some comic or other. Apparently there'd been an illustration that looked like an Ampycion in it and he was geeking out over it. She rolled her eyes and wiped her sweaty hair away from her face. This was not how she'd planned on spending the day.

* * *

A/N: Basically, these will be several one-shot peeks into moments in seasons 1 through 5 of connor and abby's growing relationship throughout the 5 series. (oh gosh, trying to pluralize te word 'series' is impossible xD)


	2. Chapter 2

**Gravity**

**_Chapter two: Eye of the tiger_**

(Set: S2, early on but before *the* S2E4)

_Characters/ Pairing: S2 team, Connor/Abby pre-ship_

"Connor." Cutter called.

"Did you know that the so-called Saber-toothed tigers weren't actually tigers at all? They're Smilodons, sabre-toothed cats, not tigers. They were around long before modern big cats began, from an early species called Machairodus, but Smilodon was the first true sabre tooth cat, it's canine teeth were much longer than the earlier ones, as well." Connor rambled, leaning on the bar next to a girl who, surprisingly, wasn't completely irritated with him. He didn't seem to realize both that she _was_ bored, though, and that she'd taken his earlier enthusiasm to mean he wasn't in a relationship. Which, Abby thought, he was, unfortunately it was with a certain witch named Caroline Steele. Abby smiled from the other side of the girl, who was then saved from mroe babble by Cutter repeating his name louder and claiming his attention.

"Connor!"

"Hm? Oh, you want somethin' Professor?" Connor asked his mentor, grinning. He didn't even notice the poor girl run off. Abby smirked and moved closer so she could participate in whatever they were talking about. She looked over Cutter's shoulder and waved Steven over. The tracker gave up on his game of pool and headed towards them, too.

"C - Jenny called me before. It seems there's definately an incursion here."

"But how?" Connor easily ignored Cutter's slip up on Jenny's name, though Steven frowned for a moment. "I mean, we got here only a few seconds after the anomaly registered, and it closed almsot right away, so..."

"Apparently that was enough time for it to get through. Some sort of big cat, maybe Smilodon, but perhaps not." Abby could tell by lookign at his face that Connor's mind was awhirl with theories about both the anomalies and the creature.

"What did Jenny find out?" She asked Cutter, glancing at Connor, who looked like he was about to explode into more excited, utterly useless babble. That was mean. She might not like his girlfriend - the woman from hell itself - but Connor was her best friend, and she knew he was brilliant, despite how childish he sometimes behaved.

Abby looked over at Connor, hiding an amused grin behind an annoyed glare. Connor stuck his tongue out at her and she chuckled. He continued humming, "eye of the tiger" under his breath as they walked. Steven was ahead, tracking the big cat with his sharp eyes and easy loping stride. The trees were sparse in comparison to the sheer amount of low-lying brush, bushes filling a large number of gaps, and leaves and grass underfoot. Neither she nor Connor, especially not Cutter, could track as well as Stephen, and on terrain like this, where the imprints were faint and nearly invisible, Stephen's skills were definately needed. Connor was sticking close to her, Cutter was walking a little ahead of them, and as usual Connor was the only one without a proper weapon. He had a tiny pocket-sized torch for when it got dark out, and the handheld detector, but that would probably not do him a world of good. Still. after the other two incidents, recent incidents, she might add, she agreed with the decision. Connor was, at the moment, more useful with improv weapons than with a tranq pistol or gun.

"Weren't you the one going on about how they're not actually tigers, Connor?" She teased him. Connor rolled his eyes.

"You just don't appreciate classical rock, Abbs!" He told her.

"You who had no idea who ACDC were until I introduced you to their music?" She replied, scoffing. They continued bantering lightly back and forth as they walked, keeping their voices low despite the calm atmosphere. They knew the big cat - or cats - were out here somewhere, but with the sun shining on them and a slight breeze in the air, it was hard to imagine anything bad happening.

"Nick." Stephen's voice carried back to them, and they sped up. The Proffessor crouched next to te tracker.

"Well, tha's one bloody large pawprint." Cutter said with a low whistle. "Imagine the size of this thing."

"Can you tell which way it's gone?" Connor piped up, coming closer, peering at te imprint in the ground. Abby moved to the other side, looking at Stephen and then to the print. She froze as she heard a crack of a twig somewhere behind them over the sound of the guys discussing the wherabouts of the big cat.

"Guys..."

She said quietly, staying absolutely still. Connor looked up at her first, concern for her on his face. He furrowed his brow and she widened her eyes. The sound of more twigs snapping brought everyone's attention to it, and Connor grabbed her arm, pulling her back as Stephen hefted his larger tranq rifle.

"Connor, let go!" She growled at him, pushing him off. What was he doing? He knew she could take care of herself!

"Sorry!" He said, backing off and simply trying ot stay out of the way.

Three massive Dinofelis burst out of the underbrush, snarling at the four humans. Cutter grabbed the radio and tossed it to Connor, who fumbled ot get a good hold on it.

"Call Jenny , we'll need backup on this." Cutter told him. Connor nodded and walked aways a little to do so, grumbling a little about being left out of the action again.

"He,y Jenny? There're three Dinofelis - they're sabre-toothed cats - here, we need the SF's, but I'm sure Cutter still wants Tranqs, not bullets. We're about... 20 feet in an east of the main path." He told her.

A sigh came over the line. "OH, alright, they're on their way, just be careful."

"Will do." He told her, takign his finger off the button and slippign the radio into his belt loop.

Abby had just kicked a Dinnofelis, and the big creature was nsarling, backing off slightly. Connor wanted to help, was worried about them. Cutter and Stephen were back-to-back, dealign with the other two. Apparently the two shots of tranquiliser hadn't done anything to the Dinofelis, and Stephen and Cutter were arguing - again.

A low snarl sounded from nearby, and Connor froze, much like Abby had before. He shut his eyes for a moment, backing up until he felt the rough surface of the tree against his back. The resident geek opened his eyes and swallowed nervously. There was a fourth Dinofelis, as large as the others, and it was about five feet in front of him. The others were busy enough as it was. What could he do?

"Dinofelis, Pliocene-Pleistocene, 5 feet long and 250 lbs,meat-eater and menace of its time. Judging by its anatomy, paleontologists believe that Dinofelis wasn't particularly fast, meaning it probably stalked its prey in jungles and woodlands where long, tiring chases would have been impeded by the dense undergrowth..." He said under his breath, frantically trying to edge away form the big cat. It was watching him, low growling comign from its throat, but despite the tension in it's body, it wasn't moving... yet. He couldn't exactly call out to Abby or the others. IF he did, he'd probably garner the attention of all the beasts, anyway.

He pelled out the handheld anomaly detector and glanced at the screen, took a deep breath, and made a decision. The Dinofelis wasn't a great runner, probably more used to hiding in trees and leaping down on it's prey to kill it with a single bite with the long, thick canine teeth jutting from it's muzzle. Furthermore, this was not it's home world, and the undergrowth was sparser than in the Pleisocene, hopefully, so he might have an adventage. Connor had done track all through Secondary and even at Uni, and he was fast.

He had to lead the beast back to the anomaly... maybe he should try to lead them all back? He picked up the radio. Abby had one.

"Abby." He said quietly into it. She sent another tranquiliser at the other Dinofelis, and pulled out her radio.

"Connor? Oh my gosh!"

"Calm down, I'm going ot lead them all back to the anomaly site. Just had to tell someone so you wouldn't think I'd been eaten or something." He continued.

"ARe you crazy Connor?!" He had a brief thought of Caroline, and of Abby, and of the others. But hey, he wasn't nearly as important, and the creatures tended to think he would make a tasty snack, so why not take advantage of that?

"No, but what else can I do?"

"You can try not to have a death wish!"

"I don't, Abby. Wish me luck!"

"You're an idiot."

"Yeah, I know." He said shortly, then tucked the handheld and radio away and waved his arms about, yelling to get the Dinofellis' attentions. And then started running as fast as he could.

Trees and bushes whipped by and he desperately tried to keep his footing, fighting a stitch in his side. The snarls nad growls were getting closer, and he wondered if they were speeding up or if he was slowing down. He took a gasping breath and swerved out of the way as one of the Dinofelis leapt at him, changing directions to head towards the anoamly in a more round-about way.

"Connor! Are you okay?" Abby's voice came from the radio. He shook his head, fighting to keep on his feet. He wasn't sure how long he'd been running, but he was worried he wasn't as close to the anoamly as he'd hoped. He didn't have the breath ot spare to answre her.

Suddenly something tackled him to the ground, and he screamed, involuntarily, expecting shredding, rending claws and teeth and a quick death. But the body holding his down was lighter than a Dinofelis', and had a familiar scent.

"Abby?"

"Shh."

He tried to turn hsi face to see what was going on, because he could hear people shouting and the sound of guns going off and thought it was the SF's and the rest of the team. He hoped they hadn't killed the creatures.

After a moment, Abby let him sit up, moving off him and staring at his flushed face for a moment. He sat there ,trying ot catch his breath again, and she slapped him.

"Ow! What was that for?!"

"Connor. Temple. You. Are. A. Bloody. Idiot." She yelled at him, slapping him with each word. He dodged a couple of the blows but was caught at the temple by one and stars filled his vision for a moment.

"Ow ow!"

"Are you okay?" Abby immediately stopped, looking at him in concern.

"Why'd you slap me?" He asked her, eyes wide.

"Because! Do you really think I'd be happy if me best friend went and got himself killed because he decided to become Saber-tooth bait?!"

"Sorry, but I needed to do something, otherwise that one was going to get me anyway, and the SF's weren't going ot be fast enough and the tranqs weren't working..." Abby pulled him into a hug and he relaxed, smiling.

"You're still a daft idiot."


	3. Chapter 3

**Gravity**

**_Chapter 3 : Consider This_**

_Characters/Pairings: Connor, Abby, Stephen; Connor/Abby pre-ship._

_About: Set right before S2E4, the "I can't! I love you!" episode. :3 Abby goes to Stephen to rant about Caroline, and gets some advice. Too bad Caroline's plans ruin everything. As usual. _

"I mean it Stephen, Connor's girlfriend is the witch from hell!" Abby's voice was sharp, but she managed to keep her tone low enough that Connor, sat halfway accross the room at the ADD, wouldn't hear her ranting. Stephen was still chuckling and she swatted at him, annoyed. "You're not taking this seriously!"

"Abby, Abby, are you absolutely sure you're not just jealous?" He said, drawing out the repetition of her name in a slightly chiding way. It got on her nerves.

"Jealous? Of Caroline?!" She scoffed, eyes narrowed at him. She shook her head. "No, I'm not." Stephen looked skeptical. "I mean it! His girlfriend closed Rex in the refrigerator! She claimed it was an accident but I know it wasn't."

"She knows about Rex?" Woops. Abby nodded, rolling her eyes.

"She knows he's a rare breed of lizard that doesn't like her one bit."

"Well, it still could've been an accident, Abby." Stephen said offhandedly, turning away from the railing and walking back up the ramp.

"No, it's obvious Caroline did that to Rex on purpose. You should see - whenever Connor's not looking, she gets this haughty, 'i'm better than you and i can do whatever i'd like' look on her face." Stephen shook his head, a little amused at this. "And, you know how Connor only thinks the best of people. He trusts everyone until they've proven otherwise. She hides these barbs in nice words so he doesn't know she's being unfair."

"And maybe," Stephen pointed out, "You're being unfair to Connor." She paused, blinking at him, looking a little confused and a helluvva lot defensive still.

"What do you mean?"

"You don't see the way he looks at you, do you Abby?" Stephen said quietly.

"Since when are _you_ offering me relationship advice - with connor?!" Abby snapped, pretending to ignore his words.

"Hey, you came to me." He told her, smiling. She shook her head.

"Why would Connor get a girlfriend if he's still... if he still fancies me? Not that I'm interested in him that way, but I don't get it." She was lying through her teeth, honestly. Recently she'd been thinking more about Connor - at least until he'd gone and gotten himself a girlfriend who so obviously hated her.

"Abby, I'm not going to bother answering that, because you know. Here, look at it this way. If she makes Connor happy, shouldn't that be all that matters?"

She looked away, leaning on the railing. Watching with a thoughtful expression, Connor fussing with the ADD and the other equipment at his station. Stephen smiled and walked away, to find Cutter and go over some things from the last anomaly call.

In some ways, Stephen was right, even if it hurt to admit it. Caroline made Connor happy, she could see that. Abby's more obvious (to Connor, at least) rebbuttal to Caroline's attitude and hidden meanings wasn't helping him in the least. And a tiny part of her fought back at these thoughts, because even if she didn't want to admit it, she liked Connor as more than a friend, and she was not only worried about Connor (because he was so trusting it would be way too easy for someone to take advantage of him, honestly) but also... alright, fine. She was jealous. And yet another piece of Abby fought with that much clearer thought, because she only liked Connor as her best friend, didn't want to loose him, and was jealous for purely platonic reasons. Of course.

Abby sighed, bumping her forehead against the railing as she admitted that her mind was in complete chaos right now.

She moved away from the railing and down the ramp, towards Connor, smiling. Caroline wasn't as important as her friendship. She could make more of an effort...

Connor was on the phone with Caroline, of all people. She could tell by the silly expression on his face and what she could overhear. Abby caught her scowl and moved closer anyway, smiling warmly at Connor and perching on the edge of the station, making sure she wasn't hitting any buttons or in his way at all. Connor finished his call with Caroline and met her eyes.

"Oh, er, hi Abbs. Sorry 'bout that. I did tell her not ta call when we're at work..."

"Hey, Connor, it's okay, really."

"Yeah?"

"Mhm!"

"Erm, that's great! But... er, Abbs? Do you mind if I go out ta theatre with Caroline tonight, then? I know, it's movie night, bu' apparently it was really hard for 'er to get these tickets and she told me she tried to get three but the other one would've been a seat halfway across the room and four aisles down and -"  
Her expression, which was clearly very irritated -though she was so, so far beyond simply iritated at him now - cut him off. She opened her mouth to say something scathing, when suddenly sirens filled the space.

Anomaly Call. Of course. Well, that was just dandy.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four : Bittersweet Sleep

A/N: Set in the same episode, because I couldn't exactly ignore this part, it's a big step in their relationship's growth. And because this is the second to last one set in S2. Also in contrast to the previous chapter, this one focusses on Connor's thoughts rather than Abby's. And I do delve into purely fan-made stuff in this chapter as well as the dialogue from the episode, so no worries! :)

* * *

Connor's mind was practically buzzing, a broad grin on his face and holding Abby as close as she would let him as they stepped, drenched and exhausted and achy, from the anomaly and into the present. Abby turned towards him for a moment, and he just focussed on moving them forwards, to dry off and then go home. To the flat. She wasn't dead. His arm may've been hurting, but Abby's was, too, and he would take care of her. That hollow , desperate fearful pit in his stomach and the back of his mind was fading, but it would probably take hours sitting up with Abby on the couch and watching tele like they always did before he could relax. And maybe see what she thought about what he'd said to her. And possibly see what could come of that.

He'd told her he loved her. Hell, he'd screamed it to her, but case to point, he'd said it. And really and truly meant it. She was the love of his life, not a silly crush but a good-and-honest, from the whole of his being, love for his flatmate. He'd completely forgotten about Caroline as well, just floated along in the warmth of the fact that Abby was alive and well and knew how he felt and all was well.

Until Abby went over to Lucien, and Connor, passing by with a grin on his face, felt it flee from his face as he overheard.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Abby hissed, as if she could hardly bear the thought of anyone overhearing. As if the thought that she might have feelings for Connor, and vice versa, was so distasteful to he that she couldn't bear to hear it mentioned.

His smile dropped and he hid it away. The love for her, the happiness and the dreams and wishes and possibilities; the pain and the fear and the tears threatening to fall. He hid it all as best he could and trudged away tiredly, to wait by the car. Connor looked over at Abby, talking to Cutter about something, despite attempts not to watch her. It hurt, it really did. He opened himself up like that to her, told her he loved her, and she had to say it that way? They weren't boyfriend and girlfriend of course, but did she really have to always correct everyone in a tone that gave the overall impression that being with him was comparable to being with a... well, with something you find on the bottom of your trainers from the pavement, rather than a possibility. it settled it. His feelings for her were completely unrequited, and he would have to deal with it as it came.

Maybe he could wait?

Maybe she was just tired.

Maybe she was just... maybe he was imagining the tone in her voice. Perhaps they would go back to the flat and... No. He could not admit it again, not only was a fear of rejection suddenly onset in his mind, but he valued their friendship too much to make a big deal over this. It was a slip up, a mess, a mistake. He'd just been scared of loosing her again, that was all. Maybe he could convince her it was platonic love? Like siblings? He cringed. That would not be a good idea, was it? There was still a possibility, maybe.

* * *

The drive home was quiet. They were both really exhausted, and besides exchanging little smiles every now and then, and fussing with the radio (he couldn't stand the adverts or certain songs, and had to change stations until he found a good song. Abby on the other hand prefered to leave it on one station because they had a majority of good songs), they didn't

really say much at all. Once they entered the flat, tiredly pulling themselves up the stairs, he decided to pretend he hadn't overheard what she said to Lucien. She shouldn't want to be with him out of pity, or because she was sorry for him.

Connor didn't really expect the question she did ask him, though.

He panicked.

He denied it.

And just as there seemed to be a moment, he was going to say something, or Abby was, or in a cliché they might speak at the same time, real life intruded with a rather irritating-at-the-moment timing.

Caroline. He'd forgotten his girlfriend. He looked at Abby, didn't see what he wanted to in her eyes, and what could he do?

In Caroline at least he would have a girlfriend. Even if she wasn't Abby.

* * *

"Caroline?"

"What, Connor?" The theatre was dark but for the spotlights upon the stage. He gripped the armrests in a vice-like grip. They were really, really high up. And the romantic theme of the play was not helping get images of Abby out of his head. Caroline's voice sounded irritated with him, and he wondered why she wanted him to be here with her if she wasn't happy about being here with him. He realized he was elbowing her in the side and reluctantly loosened his grip on the armrest so he would stop that.

"Erm, I... I'm all out of snacks."

"You can wait until intermission, Connor. You can't just get up in the middle of the play!"

"Righ'. Sorry." He muttered, slouching down in his seat, and knew he looked like a sullen little kid. She wasn't even holding his hand, she hadn't kissed him at all, and she didn't even seem to want to talk to him. Once again Connor wondered why he was even there. He shifted uncomfortably at the thought of Abby all alone in the flat. "So what's going on in the play? I can't really see..." He whispered. Caroline glared at him and then her expression shifted to a seductive smile and she pulled him closer, kissing his cheek and letting go of his scarf.

"Pay attention, Connor, and I'll explain at intermission, alright?" He mumbled a 'yes' and tried to pay attention, but his mind kept imagining Abby, alone and upset and tired. He was missing her. He'd promised not to let her out of his sight, and then as soon as Caroline appeared, he'd left, at her beck and call and everything. This wasn't working out at all.

He left at intermission, pleading out on a headache that wasn't so much pretend as an over-exaggeration of a still painful one, and walked back to the flat because Caroline wanted to stay and see the rest of the play. He could almost think that she'd looked apologetically at him for a split second, but it faded quickly enough.

Connor entered the flat, trying to be quiet as he closed and locked the door behind him, walked up the stairs, and stumbled through the main room, past the couch. He turned to look at it and was surprised to see Abby sleeping, curled up tightly and with a thin blanket over her shivering frame. He sighed quietly, and scooped her up into his arms, ignoring a lingering pain in his arm as he carried her as smoothly as he could towards her room.

After he lay her down on her bed and pulled her thick blankets and duvet over her surprisingly small frame, Connor couldn't resist standing in the doorway and watching her sleep. She looked so peaceful. He was sure his own dreams would be nothing short of terrible. Connor was actually quiet surprised that she wasn't having nightmares. But then again, this was Abby.

She was strong...

He left her room and went to his own bed in the loft, frowning at the bed for a moment. Something was missing! Connor's eyes widened and a small smile flitted onto his face. The light sheet Abby'd had draped over her on the couch was one of his. A silly part of him wondered if that was why she was sleeping so easily. He ignored the other part that told him he was being an idiot, and settled down for bed, smiling still.

Abby awoke in the middle of the night to the sound of Connor's cries. He was crying her name, and she realized with anuncomfortable pang that he was reliving the moments earlier that day when he'd thought her dead. She frowned at her surroundings for a moment, staring at the sheet still wrapped around her body, and smiled. Another sharp, desperate cry filled the flat, and Abby's smile dropped. She scrambled out of bed and hurried up to the loft as quickly as she could.

"Connor, it's okay, Conn. I'm okay. You saved me, remember? I'm alive." She whispered to him, perching on the edge of his bed and soothing him. She couldn't resist but lightly stroke his face, watching as the lines on his face smoothed, watched him slowly relax and calm under her gentle touch and whispered words of comfort. She blinked in surprise as she thought she heard him repeat his confession.

"love you, love you... never leave... Abbs?... Love ya. Alive, you're... alive... that's... love you... good... mhmhmmmmmm" He mumbled, settling down again. Yes, she definitely had heard what she thought she'd heard. Again. Darn him!

Abby pulled his blankets further over his shoulders and watched him instinctively cuddle into the blankets and then he was out like a light. With a small, gentle smile, and fully pretending she hadn't heard the admission this time as well as last, Abby left Connor and went back to her own room, to cuddle up in her own bed and go back to sleep. She pulled the extra sheet close and breathed in, smiling sleepily.

"Sweet dreams Connor." She murmered.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5: dependable

Set: Two days after Stephen's death, and despite wanting to mourn, the anomalies wait for no man or woman. Abby may not have loved Stephen, but losing a friend is never not painful, for anyone involved. So this one's I'm not sure about at all, really. It's one in the morning and it's kinda… I don't know how else to write this bit, because I need to include post Stephen's death but still technically s2 stuff, before I transition into their closeness in S3, but I'm not sure I achieved it at all. Excuse any spelling errors, mea culpa, all that. Sorry, very tired student here. Anyways, enjoy it :3 And I'd appreciate feedback on it since it's very different.

* * *

Connor glanced at Abby. The ARC was silent, as it had mostly been for the past few days but for a few anomaly calls. He watched her for a moment, seeing his best friend, the girl he loved, staring into outer space. Her eyes were still a little red-rimmed, and he wondered when she was crying, because he hadn't heard her at night. Though, he thought, his own moments, where some thing would surface in his mind and he'd be caught between fond laughter and sobbing, and would break down, he always managed to hold it in until he was alone. Maybe this wasn't a good thing. They were all so... cold, and empty. The ARC felt different, with Stephen gone. He sighed when she didn't even turn to look at him, and looked down at his laptop, running his fingers lightly over the keys.

'_when you die, can I have your I pod?'_ He'd been joking, clearly, and there was nothing he could have done to save Stephen, but an uncomfortably guilty pang had settled in him and he didn't realize he was shaking until the gentle touch of Abby's hand on his cheek made him jump.

"Abby?" He asked, surprised, hastily wiping away a tear that had managed to escape his control. His eyes stung.

"Connor, what are you doing?" She said softly, meeting his gaze. Connor looked away.

"What does it look like? I'm... I'm adding the latest anomaly data into the ADDs' system and updating the creature database with that new species of pterosaur." His voice sounded hollow. Abby didn't chide him, simply pulled him close and hugged him. He'd learned not to take these moments for granted, and gratefully returned the soothing embrace.

"Connor..."

The anomaly sirens went off.

Connor trudged through the gate, Abby following wearily behind, and dully flashed his security clearance pass to the guard. Abby did the same and they entered the building. Connor was covered head-to-toe in mud, had gotten thoroughly lost on side-streets, and had grazed his cheek, hands, and left shoulder when he'd tripped and fell on the pavement. Outside the gate, Cutter slammed the boot of the car with unnecessary force, and Jenny was already bantering with him. Apparently her self-appointed task to distract Cutter. Abby wasn't quite as badly off as Connor was. She had mud up to her knees and smudges on her clothes and skin. She looked at her friend in sympathy, almost forgetting about Stephen's death for a moment as her flat mate grumbled about the mud and why he of all people was the one that these things always happened to. And then suddenly memories and thoughts of Stephen accosted her and Abby was crying. Connor whipped around at her quiet gasp to see her sitting on the ground, tears running clean tracks on her muddied skin. He immediately ran to her and gave her a hug this time, just holding her for a little while.

Back at the flat, Abby was watching Connor playing a video game."Do you wonder, what the people we lose think of us after they die? Like, they're watching us, I wonder, y'know, if they're happy, or sad, or maybe just neutral. If we're making the right choices... if they..." She trailed off, Connor looked at her in surprise.

"I dunno, Abbs. But..."

"I.. I worry that if we try and move on, we'll forget him. I can't just..." She sighed. " I fancied him, and even after I grew out of that, I counted him as a friend. It's hard... I keep thinking he'll walk into the ARC one day, that smug grin on his face and a thousand things to say..."

"Stephen would be happier if he knew we would continue on. He sacrificed himself to save people. Us not talking about him won't help anything at all. The ARC is vulnerable right now, Abbs. We're just..." He had put down the controller and was gesturing vaguely with his hands as he spoke, saying the words hesitantly, as if feeling for the right ones. "I feel like that sometimes too, I think I see his face, out of the corner of my eye, but when I look, he's not there. But we're crippled by this, Abbs. The ARC can't function like this..."

"It doesn't make it any easier to just pretend nothing's happened and just go on with our lives!" Abby snapped at him. Connor's wounded look made her sigh.

"Sorry."

"No, we need to talk this out, cry, or yell, or whatever. I don't mind, Abbs. But I... just think that if we leave things as they are... we'll forever be stuck at this point. We won't do anything, go anywhere. It'll always be about preserving his memory and only that, and we'll all be cold and hollow.""I know. It's hard though, Conn." She ignored his offer, the deeper meaning to his words. She was not going to use him as a scratching post for her angry, upset words.

"I'm afraid of the... edge." She didn't ask what he meant, she understood. They were all on a precipice, and unless they could let themselves fall correctly and land on a trampoline at the bottom, they'd just break, fall and go cold. Robotic.

"Things are getting a bit robotic around here. It's kinda creepy." She admitted. A shaky smile from Connor warmed her a little.

Three hours later and they had fallen asleep side-by-side on the couch, empty cans of beer lay around them and their eyes were red from crying. tissues lay scattered and as he slipped off to dreamland, for once completely free of haunting images of Stephen's last moments (he hadn't seen but his imagination could do spectacularly at providing its own images), Connor admitted to himself that the release of that emotional build-up had been the best thing he and Abby could have done. They'd talked for hours, about Stephen and work and each other and Stephen again. He'd been their friend. Connor mentioned Tom, and they talked about Stephen some more. They'd tried to out drink each other like it was a contest, hardly noticing as the beer began to loosen their tongues and the walls on their emotions fell, and the tears soon followed, and they turned to each other for comfort. It wasn't anything, really, but they felt safe and comfortable and peaceful near each other. They were best friends, so it would be odd not to feel that way, right? IT didn't matter at the moment. The plan had worked in a rather round-about way to fix things. Stephen had never been dependable, Connor was. Abby curled closer, sleepily, to Connor on the couch, and then they were out.

The next morning had included Connor being terribly sick from a hangover and Abby with a bit of a headache because she wasn't a lightweight but they'd drunk a lot of beer last night. Things seemed different the next day, and the days that followed, and perhaps that discussion and the mutual comforting had really allowed them to both remember Stephen and move on without remorse or guilt. Cutter was a different story. And Abby cast a fond eye at her flat mate, because he was a dependable, good and honest guy, and she appreciated that. It wasn't the moment, not the right time, to think about relationships and the like, though. It could wait.


	6. Chapter 6

**_Chapter 6: Peaceful Moments_**

_Set between episodes 1 and 2 of S3. Becker, Connor, Abby and Sarah are quickly becoming friends, hard not to when much of their day-to-day activities are around each other. Connor, Abby, and the team are on an anomaly call in the rain. Sometimes there can be perfect moments in the midst of chaos. (sort of? something like that at least)_

* * *

It was raining. As far as desriptions of the weather went, Connor mused, that was a particularly dull one. And altogether too common lately. It wasn't outright pouring, the streets weren't completely swamped, and the majority of the ARC team was not utterly soaked in water. However, he was not the majority of the ARC team, so that was completely irrelevant. To be specific, the core team was pretty... damp to say the least. He shook his head, trying to get the water to stop running down his hair into his eyes. They were standing under an awning, one of those large ones that spans across the whole front of a building on metal supports. Rain was dripping down through tears and gaps in the fabric , cascading down a wall behind him like a miniature waterfall. Connor shifted uncomfortably in his wet clothes, glancing over at Abby, who was crouched near the edge of their shelter, looking out at the streets of London.

"You know we're not going to catch any dinosaurs if we just stand around here staring at the rain falling, Temple." Captain Becker spoke up dryly from the entrance to the store behind them, and Connor pivoted to look at him with raised eyebrows.

"We don't even know where they are!"

"Well, that's our job, isn't it?"

"Oh, piss off, Hilary." Connor froze after he'd said it, wincing. "Oops."

"Now you've done it, Conn." Abby laughed from where she was watching them. Connor looked back at Becker and bit his lip.

"Heh..."

"How did you...?" Becker looked mutinous. Connor attempted a grin, hands held palm-out towards the third member of their team.

"Captain, leave Temple alone. We've got a job to do here - threatening him can wait until later, alright?" Jenny showed up, and Connor slipped past Becker to her.

"Thank you, you're a lifesaver Jenny!" He told her. Jenny shook her head, rolling her eyes at their antics.

"Oh, you'll have to deal with him later. Just make sure you save his life or something today." She told him, chuckling. Connor's face fell, and he turned to smile at Becker again.

"Hey, fancy going out in the rain ta catch some dinosaurs?" Connor asked tentatively. Becker snorted, bumping his shoulder as he walked past him towards the street. Abby was laughing, and walked over to pat him on the shoulder.

"C'mon, Conn." She told him, smiling.

* * *

"Sarah, I'm sending you some data over the system, can ya add it to the input of the ADD for me?" Connor spoke into his mobile, holding it with one hand as he hit the enter key on his laptop and added an attachment full of codes and numbers to the data. He had a blanket wrapped around his shouldersand across his lap to protect the laptop from the water. They had gone out into the rainfall and tracked the creatures - which seemed not to be dinosaurs at all, but rather, some sort of mammal - and had gotten even more waterlogged in the proccess. To top it off the small cat-like creatures had evaded all capture, and they'd had to return to the temporary 'base' under the awning where some minor equipment was set up on tarps. He leaned forwards and added another attachment and hit send.

"Yeah, will do Connor. Oh, and by the way, those cables you asked Lester if you could order? They've arrived. I gave the poor deliveryman a towel, he looked soaked." Sarah's voice came over the line.

"Really! Great news! About the cables coming, tha' is. As for the being soaked bit, I'm sure me 'n Abbs have that guy beat on that. There's water _everywhere_, Sarah!" He couldn't avoid a slightly petulant tone from entering his voice. Sarah laughed.

"Hmm, everywhere?" She teased.

"Stuff it." He told her with a mock-scowl she obviously wouldn't be able to see.

"Oh! Abby told me you let slip about the Captain's name. Did he threaten to kill you?" Connor grimaced.

"I didn't mean to, honestly. He didn't get to - Jenny intervened temporarily, but I don't know; I'm probably doomed when we get back to the ARC." He said with a sigh, touching the keys on his keyboard lightly.

"Want me to talk to him?"

"No, no... that's okay. I'll figure it out." Connor told her.

"If you say so." A pause. "I've got the data, updating it now. Shouldn't be too hard, right?" Connor rolled his eyebrows.

"I'll let you get on with tha'. Cutter wants to regroup ta discuss how to catch these things." They said goodbye and he hung up, getting wearily to his feet and grimacing at the uncomfortability of wet clothes sticking and clinging to him.

"Action man's arguing with Cutter again." Abby said from behind him, making Connor start, and turn towards her with a smirk.

"That wasn't unexpected..."

"Yes, okay, you win that bet, okay? Now come on Conn!" Abby said, rolling her eyes and grabbing his wrist, pulling him along.

"Alright, alright!" He said with a laugh, following her meekly.

* * *

"Abby! It went that way!" Connor yelled over the sound of the rain, as one of the 2 foot long ferret-cat-things - that may have been fro mthe future or the past, they weren't quite sure which - slipped right through his rain-numbed fingers yet again. With a growl of annoyance he lost his balance and ended up lying on the ground.

"Got it! Cutter, go 'round the other side!" Abby, chasing after it, called out to the Professor, who pushed his tranquilizer gun into the hands of a nearby SF. On the ground, Connor groaned and propped himself up on his elbows, looking down over the edge of the curb at the gutter.

"We'll be able to corner it! This's road's a dead end!" Cutter said, following her swiftly.

"Need some help, Temple?" Connor turned on his side to peer up at Becker, blinking away rain falling into his face.

"You offering?"

"Yeah, why not?" Becker's voice was mild, which made Connor narrow his eyes for a moment before shrugging a little and taking the hand extended towards him. Becker easily pulled him to his feet, startling the ARC's resident geek for a moment.

"Erm... thanks. And I am sorry about that before. Didn't exactly intend to blurt it ta everyone." He told him. Becker smiled.

"Good enough for me."

"You're not mad? I thought you would be. Abby was sure you were going to at least threaten to kill me." Becker raised his eyebrows. "Right. Conversation over, I got it... I'll go... There! Another one of the creatures!"

Becker shook his head in amusement and took off after Connor and the ferret-cat creature.

* * *

Abby leaned against Connor, and he immediately put his arm around her shoulders, relaxing when she didn't shrug the arm off, only snuggled closer. They'd finally gotten all of the animals back through the anomaly, and the SFs were watching it until it closed, armed with tranquilizers as well as guns, at Abby's insistence.

Connor sighed. They might both be damp and icky, but this moment was perfect. Her head was in the crook of his neck and he tentatively let his head rest against the top of her's, smiling happily when she didn't protest that, either. He looked up in surprise when Cutter came by, smiling warmly at them, and lay a large blanket around them.

Perfect.

* * *

The rain was petering off, and they both had fallen asleep while they waited for the anomaly to close and all reports to come back in, making sure there were no more creatures and no-one had gotten hurt, that kind of thing. Connor stiffly lifted his head off of Abby's shoulder, and was met by a warm smile from her.

"Hi." He murmured softly, blinking to wake himself up. Abby chuckled quietly.

"Hello yourself. I don't know how long we were asleep for." She said, looking around in concern, now that they were both cognizant again.

"Hope they 'aven't all gone back without us." He said, grinning at her.

"If they have, you'll have to go and get the car."

"What?! Abby, how is that fair?!"

"You snore, Connor."

"Ah..." He processed that for a moment, and then looked at her, denying it. "Oi! I do not!"

"Yes, you do! I was awake for five minutes before you did, and you were definately snoring."

"Hmf." He pouted, and she grinned, poking him. He poked her back, and somehow they ended up tussling and Abby had him pinned for a moment before she sat to the side, laughing, as he slowly sat up. He was partly embarassed but also flushed for... other reasons. He glared at her, but grinned too, unable to really be annoyed at her at all. This was fun, moments like this didn't come about all that often.

Becker pulled up in one of the ARC vans suddenly, opened the window, and leaned out. "You two done playing, or would you rather walk to the ARC?" He asked dryly, raising an eyebrow in a look that was quickly becoming something he associated with 'becker' in Connor's mind.

"Oi!"

"Leave it, Conn, come on!" She laughed, and he got to his feet and Aby did too and then they were in the car, headed to the ARC, and then to home. The sun was now shining brightly - a few hours before the sun was going to set, ironically enough - they were all in rather soggy clothes, and they would probably have to expect an anomaly call at around midnight or something like that, but the moments like this made it all worth it. That, and the memory of one of the SFs with a squirming ferret-cat-thing sitting on top of his head.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7: Sit!

A/N: I... I really don't know! I liked the idea when it came to me and I began writing, but I'm not really sure of the end effect. But then again, one is always one's worst critic, right? Anyways, have some silliness pre-the diictodons episode, because a little more fluff before the angstiness is good, right? And don't worry, there will probably be duckbills and titanosaurs and raptors and all that stuff, but I wanted to put this chapter in here. Erm.. enjoy! And I like feedback , especially _on the chapter itself_ od guests whose crits are just about the dinos... right. I'm rambling now...

Just... be imaginative about the dog-lizard, okay? He likes to lick people and eat sheep! :3

* * *

"Connor."

"Hmm?"

"Connor!" Abby repeated, standing with her hands on her hips. He was on his back under the ADD, doing something or other with the wiring, and was apparently so engrossed in whatever he was doing that he was oblivious to the outside world.

"Mhh?"

"Con, if you don't stop for a second, I'm going to chuck your collection of comic books into a dumpster and you'll never see them again." She threatened him. Immediately Connor attempted to sit up.

"Wha - ow!" He'd hit his head. With a sigh, Abby crouched next to him and helped her best friend out from under the anomaly detection device. "Did you just say that you're going to throw my comic books out? Abby you can't! I have some one-of-a-kind copies-" She put her hand over his mouth.

"I just wanted your attention, Conn. don't worry, your comics are safe." She told him, chuckling at the stricken look on his face. He made a face, pressing a hand to his forehead. "You alright?"

"Ah, yeah, I'm fine. 'ad worse than this plenty of times, Abbs." Connor pointed out, rubbing the spot once more before turning to her. "So, what did you want to tell me?"

"Besides that you ought to take a break, and Cutter wants me to remind you not to touch the model in his office, and you've got ink on your cheek, you mean?" She said with a grin. Not why she'd come, and not the only thing she meant to say, but the answering chuckle from Connor reassured her.

"Yeah, besides all tha'... wait, I 'ave ink on my face?" He frowned, bringing a fingerless-glove-clad hand to his cheek to rub at the spot.

"It's gone now." She told him, watching him scrub at it fiercely, leaving his cheek a little pink. "Right... well, erm... I've been meaning to say something for a while, Conn, to be honest. Not gotten up the nerve until now so..."

He looked at her incredulously. "You, nervous about somethin'?"

"Shush, Conn. This is important..."

"Well don't say the words 'it's important' too loudly, or the ADD might hear." Temporarily distracted, Abby raised an eyebrow at him. Connor chuckled. "Y' know, any time someone has ta say something life-changing or... something like that -" The pink in his cheeks wasn't from him rubbing the ink off now, she was ninety percent sure, "-there's an anomaly call..."

The machine suddenly flared on with loud alarms, the screen above them lighting up with the words 'Anomaly Detected' at that exact moment.

"For crying out loud! Connor!" She couldn't help but wail, swatting at him, though she wasn't angry at him, just at whatever had decided that there would be an anomaly at this exact moment. He laughed, apologizing as he scrambled to his feet, offering her a hand up, and ran from her as she gave chase.

Cutter peeked out of his office and shook his head in amusement, entering the corridor and looking around for Captain Becker and Sarah Page. Sarah'd been in the break room, and they were probably all headed to the armoury now anyway.

"Where's the anomaly?" He shouted down the hall to Connor, who was holding Abby at bay with a grin on his face. The young man looked up and at Cutter, and let go of Abby's shoulders, straightening.

"Several miles out of town, by some farms, I'll get the exact location on the handhelds." He called back.

"Right, Becker, Abby, Connor, you three take some soldiers with you and head out. Sarah, you're with me, we've got to add this one to the model!" Sarah sighed, though the work she and cutter were doing was interesting, and more to her liking generally than being terrorized by dinosaurs in the field.

* * *

As usual, they'd hoped for something cute and non-dangerous to come through the anomaly, if anything had to enter this time, that is. And also as usual, it didn't happen (it did sometimes happen, but the regular occurences were big and dangerous, even if they were herbivores, or meat eaters). Lots of shouting, definitely, and ducking and running and shooting with the tranquilizer guns. Connor didn't recognize what the creature was, which either meant its species hadn't left any traces in the fossil record,or it was an unknown juvenile of a known species, or it was from the future. It was about 18 feet long, as far off the ground as a human, with a head full of sharp teeth and a pair of glaring red eyes with slit pupils. It switched between a bipedal and quadrupedal stance, running on all fours and towering over them on two legs. The head was vageuly canine-like, but the creature was scaled, like a lizard, but for strange tufts of fur along its spine and on its long tail.

"What is it Connor?!" Becker yelled, shooting yet again at it. The tranquilizer dart stuck for a moment but then fell, and the creature didn't seem to notice beyond a shake of its head and a hiss at the loud noise of the guns. It snapped at one of Becker's soldiers, and Abby darted towards it, kicking at it. The thing leapt back, startled at the low to its muzzle, and shook its head again.

Connor typed furiously on his laptop, entering in the observations he'd made and trying to find anything on it. There was nothing useful - and in fact, nothing at all on the beast. He turned to Becker, shaking his head, and shut the laptop with a snap.

"There's nothin'! Abby, what do you think?"

"Besides that this thing is either really stupid or really, really stubborn? The shots aren't scaring it back through, and it's definitely not veggie, if we let our guard down, it'd happily eat any of us for a snack!" She said, darting away from the creature as it sniffed at her curiously. Connor was of the opinion that it was really dim, which didn't really help too much, as it meant the creature wouldn't be scared away by normal means.

"I'm hoping you two have a plan B? Otherwise we're going to use mine!" Becker snapped, avoiding the creature's attempts to take a nibble out of him. At least it wasn't exactly attacking, per se.

"No!" Abby practically snarled at Becker. Connor grabbed her wrist so she wouldn't try to beat up the captain.

"It's like.. a giant puppy dog or somethin', it's a baby, I think. We 'ave to get it back through, even if it is from the future and not the past." Connor said, trying to keep things peaceful. He held still on purpose, trying to see if it would work, when the thing decided to sniff him, too. And he froze in panic when it opened it's mouth...

It licked him.

The giant dog-lizard literally licked him.

"I hope that doesn't mean he's seein' if I taste good." He moaned to Abby, who was caught between worry for him, and amusement.

"Just back away, Conn. He likes you... See if he'll follow you, yeah?" Abby said. Becker raised an eyebrow, clearly trying not to laugh and keep up his stern image.

"This is your plan?"

"You 'ave any ideas, action man?" Connor asked, wiping the dog-thing's saliva off of his clothes. Not nearly as gross as being eaten by a worm that time, but almost as icky. The creature was watching Connor with obvious interest, and he started walking backwards towards the anomaly, one step after another. It tilted its head appraisingly for a moment, then decided to follow him. Despite it being a lizard-dog puppy from the future, the moment reminded him of nothing so much as Clifford the big red dog. He held back a chuckle, but the grin on his face made Abby laugh.

"Just be careful, Conn, okay? If he looks like he wants to take a bit of you, get out of the way, alright?" Abby told him. Becker was still skeptical, and signaled to two of the soldiers to keep their tranq guns at the ready.

"I'll be fine." Connor commented, keeping his eyes on the animal. It followed him, tongue lolling out of its mouth.

As Connor stepped backwards through the anomaly, he was instantly worried that it would close behind him, leaving him trapped in whatever time he was in. The creature followed him through, and Connor looked around, nervously moving closer to the dog-lizard, because it was at least a known quantity, compared to the strange noises in what looked to be a sort of rainforest. Odd.

"Okay, boy, I gotta go back, alright? I'll 'ave to tell Abby that I so thought about keepin' ya. I wish I could, but for one, you wouldn't fit in the flat. And secondly, your mum and dad are probably out there in the forest somewhere, yeah? I can't keep you from 'em. So, g'bye." Connor told the creature, reaching up to pat it on the head. He braced himself as it licked him again, and shook his hair away from his face. THe dog-lizard made a rumbling noise in its throat and looked at him pleadingly. Connor turned to go, paused, and patted the creature before shaking his head and walking back towards the anomaly.

It started to follow him.

"You, stay here, okay?" He told it.

It whined, but stood still. Connor confidently turned 'round and started back to the anomaly again, only to pause as heavy pawsteps followed him again.

"No! Sit, boy!" Somehow, the hand gesture and command worked, which was definitely odd, way beyond just weird, and it made Connor want to stay and investigate, but he had to go back, and sooner than later. The creature sat, looking at him forlornly, and Connor took the moment to dart through the anomaly back into his time.

After Connor emerged from the anomaly, one of the soldiers poked at the whirling rip in time-space with a device that Connor had thrown together. It temporarily sealed anomalies, like the thing he'd used at the Museum, though it was only a few seconds longer than that. He was still working on the design for a device that would lock anomalies until they closed of their own accord, or so the team could decide to unlock them and relock them at will.

"You won't believe me, probably, but he sat on command! Seriously! Imagine if that's our future, a point in time at which humans have creatures like tha' as pets?" Connor babbled excitedly to Abby, who chuckled.

"You were tempted to keep him, weren't you Conn?" She asked, grinning. He smirked.

"Eh, maybe.. a little. He really liked me, y'know."

"He ate three sheep from a farm, Conn. Even i he'd fit and we'd be able to let ourselves keep him from his home, how would we ever feed him?" She pointed out. Connor laughed.

"I thought it was four sheep, actually... Abbs, you know what he reminded me of?"

"What?" She asked, with a sigh that wasn't really as long-suffering as it sounded.

* * *

"Hey, Abby?"

"Yeah Conn?"

"Can we get a dog?"

"Go to bed, Connor."

"But Abbs - "

"Connor, we'll discuss it in the morning, yeah?"

A pause, then, "Okay." Another pause. "Goodnight Abby."

"G'night Conn."


	8. Chapter 8

_"Connor looked at Abby, and while she knew there was a similar look in her own eyes, the bitter, painful grief in his dark, soulful eyes almost made her flinch." Two days after Cutter's death, and Abby's getting worried about Connor. He's been recklessly throwing himself in harm's way, he doesn't say as much as he normally does, and the little banter and jokes wash right over him. To top it all off, he's afraid to cry around the team - she's not sure if he's allowed himself to really cry at all. She decides to do something about it before something bad can happen..._

_AN: IDK why, but is spazzing on this chapter and the next. :| I'm not sure why, but I hope it stops dissapearing soon._

* * *

Two days. Two days since tragedy had once again struck their little group, torn a hole in their core team that had become a family of sorts. Diminished. Cutter was gone. Dead. And while all of them, even Becker and Sarah, who hadn't been on the team as long, felt the loss like a blow, Abby had a feeling that it was Connor who had been hit hardest. He'd been there when Cutter had died, and the one time she'd gotten Connor to say anything to her about it, he'd mentioned that Cutter had asked him to sit with him. The look in his eyes when he said that, the strain in his voice, told her that he felt guilty. She didn't know how to assure him, because he knew, on a rational level, that it wasn't his fault - she assumed so, at least, because he got angry or upset or both whenever Helen was mentioned - but survivor's guilt was a very real thing, and Connor was a very good man.

She was worried about Connor, to be completely honest. None of them really had sat down and talked about Cutter, like people do after a death. Like at Stephen's funeral, he'd been cold, distant and numb and silent at Cutter's. He'd been asked to say something about Cutter, had even managed to make a speech, but then mid-word, his voice cracked and he fled.

She'd found him drunk, at the nearby pub, hours later.

These were not good signs, at all. So none of them really talked about it, but she knew she'd hidden in the ladies' toilets to cry, as had Sarah, and while a composed exterior was expected of Becker, and Lester had never really liked Cutter per se, both of them had seemed a lot less distant, softer edges and gentler attitudes. But Connor - he hadn't been crying - not at home , not in the gents' (she'd asked Becker to spy for her), not in the burnt-out remains of Cutter's office. Well, that last one wasn't quite true. Sarah had said she'd walked in on Connor crying, sitting in front of the artifact, more than once already. But as soon as he realized he was being watched, he wiped them away and went about his business as usual. He didn't cry in front of her, she didn't cry in front of him.

When he didn't look totally numb, or was pretending he was completely fine by throwing himself recklessly into heroic situations more often than usual, he looked like a little lost puppy.

So, she was worried about her flatmate, the man she was deeply in love with already, even if she couldn't bring herself to admit that to anyone, including herself, and that's why Abby Maitland was standing outside the pub, at night, looking for him.

Earlier that evening, they'd come home exhausted from another day dealing with anomalies - she would've thought the frequency of anomalies leading to the early or late cretaceous would interest, intrigue, Connor, but he'd been too busy getting himself into danger again - and she'd plopped down on the sofa, whilst Connor trudged silently into the kitchen and turned on the kettle. She called out to him, "Conn, Star Wars is on the tele! Want to watch?" - and received no reply. Confused, Abby got to her feet, and found Connor sitting on the counter, clearly struggling not to cry. She went over to him, putting a hand on his shoulder. He didn't shrug her away, so she spoke. "It's okay to cry, Connor."

He'd given her a pained, anguished look, shook his head roughly, shoved past her, and left the flat. He'd called over his shoulder in a strained sort of voice that he was going to the pub.

In and of itself, that wasn't a huge deal. Connor was an adult, could make his own decisions for himself. But he was a horrible lightweight when it came to drinking, and a worse sort of drunk, and he was upset. The least that would happen would be him stumbling in at some forsaken hour of the night, falling asleep, and waking up with a massive hangover. The worst... Well, that was why she was here, to stop him from doing this before something bad could happen.

There! There he was, sat forlornly at the bar with his chin in his hand, elbow propped on the wood surface, a few empty glasses of something-or-other scattered around him already, and a full one in his other hand. Abby bit her lip thoughtfully, wondering how to go about this. She sighed, shook her head a moment, and entered the pub. She ignored a few clearly drunken men at one of the tables who wolf-whistled at her, heading straight for the bar stool next to Connor. Abby slipped onto her seat and watched Connor for a moment. He didn't even notice her: he wasn't drinking the new glass, merely running his thumb along a chip at the top and sliding it around absently on the bar, leaving a trail of sweat from the cold glass along the surface, little spots of water that sparkled in the dim lighting. He was caught up in his own thoughts, and she hoped he wasn't intoxicated yet. She cleared her throat, and Connor jerked suddenly as if he'd been electrocuted, turning towards her with wide eyes.

"Abby!"

"Yes, Connor, I do know who I am." She commented dryly. He blinked, blinked a second time, and his eyes narrowed.

"What're you doing here, Abbs?" His words were very slightly slurred, and now that he was over his surprise, he was avoiding meeting her eyes; she frowned.

"Making sure you-" She poked him in the chest. "-don't do anything stupid. Which includes drinking everything the bar has to offer." He just stared at her silently. "For one thing, I doubt Lester would be happy with the bill." She added, grinning. Connor smiled a tiny bit, but looked down at the glass in his hands.

"How'd you know I 'acked his account?" He murmured to her, wary of the barman walking over. The other man looked at her, raising his eyebrows in a silent question. She smiled at him, and shook her head.

"I'm fine; if I want anything I can always borrow Conn's beer, right?" Connor stuck out his tongue at her, and she laughed.

"Oh, get 'er a beer, me boss' payin' for this anyway!" He suggested to the barman with false cheer in his voice; she could tell the grin on his face wasn't genuine, wasn't a Connor-ish grin. It was cold and brittle and she didn't like it on her flatmate's face.

"Connor, Lester's not going to be happy about this. Why don't you pay for it yourself? We both make more than enough." She asked him, leaning towards him curiously. The barman shook his head and walked away to get her a beer, and she didn't say no. Connor's expression looked even more strained, if possible. "Nevermind, Conn, it's alright." She said quickly. His shoulders dropped, the lines of tension left him, and he shook his head.

"I want to tell you..." A long pause, she left it alone for a few moments, quietly thanking the barman as he handed her the drink. "Me dad died when I was little. Me mum had always been a little... odd in the 'ead. But after his death, it began getting worse. Not very quickly, and for a while we didn't know, because we didn't expect it... I was fourteen when she got diagnosed with Alzheimer's." He said softly. "I pay for the nursing 'ome she lives in and the care. It's easier, in the long run, ta use Lester's funds. 'e knows about me mum. Matter o' face I think Lester knows more 'n I do about everyone who works in the ARC." He finished, a more genuine grin flashing on his face for a moment.

"Wow... I'm sorry, Conn... I can't... I mean... Must be horrible." He nodded sadly. "If you ever need company, if you visit her sometime. I'll go with you, if you'd like." Abby told him. He looked at her in surprise, a question obvious in his dark eyes. "I mean it."

"Thanks, Abby." He said softly, smiling at her. It was more like him this time. Another question was bugging her; she was pretty sure it was connected to his feelings about Cutter, and while it might be painful, it was probably the best thing she could do for him right now.

"What happened to your dad, Connor?"

And he was distant fro mher again. He'd never had walls up, had floated along in his childlike way and slipped past her walls, gotten into her heart. He'd never had his own walls, not that she knew of, at least. But he was closed to her now, eyes nearly black and unreadable; he'd turned away form her a little.

"It was me own fault." He whispered. She leaned closer, putting a hand on his shoulders, comforting him. He smiled at her quickly, and then his face fel again. Not quite closed off, that was a start.

"Conn…"

"No…. I was faffing off, we were crossing the street and he told me not to run ahead of him. I didn't listen. I thought I was so cool, with a new haircut, new backpack with superman on it… The driver hadn't stopped at the stop sign. Just went straight on through, like it didn't even exist." Abby was holding her breath, uncomfortably aware that not only had Connor been so close to dying at such a young age, he'd witnessed his own father's death. "And… I was… I was in the way. I would've been hit… B-but m-my da'…" Connor's face was scrunched up, fighting the tears that were escaping his hold. She wondered, slowly letting out the breath she'd been holding. She pulled him close, slipping off of her chair, and holding him tight when he wrapped his arms around her and sobbed into her shoulder. "He pushed me outta th' way, and 'e g-got… got hit instead, instead of me." Connor cried into her shoulder.

"And that's why Cutter's death hit you so hard?" She felt more than heard his mumbled, 'mhm'. Abby felt her own tears escaping her control, and let them, crying with Connor now.

"He was- was like me da'… It was like I 'ad another chance to have a father figure in me life. And I messed up again." He mumbled. She shook her head, then gripped his shoulders and shook him.

"No, you listen to me Connor Temple." Both of their eyes were red-rimmed, cheeks damp with tears still falling, and her shirt was a little damp. He looked at her, numbly, but with a touch of surprise in his eyes. Wariness followed.

"Wha'?" His voice was so quiet. Connor looked at Abby, and while she knew there was a similar look in her own eyes, the bitter, painful grief in his dark, soulful eyes almost made her flinch.

"You did not mess up. You were a child, your father wouldn't have been happy if you'd been the one to die, Conn. He saved you, it wasn't your fault he got hit, it was the driver's fault. You couldn't have done anything about the driver skipping the stop sign. And Cutter- Helen shot him, directly in the chest, Connor. Even if you'd gone against his wishes, Nick still would've died, there was absolutely nothing you could have done. His death is not your fault, do you hear me? The best thing we can do is…" She wiped away some tears from her stinging eyes and sighed. "We need to continue on, do what we do best, continue Cutter's legacy. Make him proud of us, not sad that we're falling into a pit of despair." She told him. Connor took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded, looking at her. His eyes seemed lighter, not as weighed down by the self-conflaggration and grief he'd been holding in.

"Thank you."

"I miss him too, and it's okay to be upset, Conn." She said softly, blinking away a few remaining tears.

"Abby, can we go home?" He said in the same quiet voice. It was an improvement at least from before. This wasn't over; they still had a lot ot talk about before things would be okay, but for now, it was alright. Maybe things would be easier now. She could hope. Abby nodded, smiling a little in response to the small smile slowly forming on her flatmate's lips. He pushed the still-full glass of beer away – Abby pushed her own half-empty glass away as well – and she put an arm around his waist as they left the pub together. It wasn't a permanent solution, she knew. A few words would not get rid of his insecurities and survivor's guilt. But it would be enough to help them begin to heal, maybe.


	9. Chapter 9

_Some mostly lightheartedness, the day before Connor moves out._

* * *

"C'mon, Connor! Anomaly alert, we're going to be late!"

"Mhhf..." He mumbled, face in his pillow.

"Get up before I let Sid and Nancy pee on your best waistcoat!" That got him up, falling out of bed, a leg and an arm caught in the blankets haphazardly strewn about. He looked up blearily to see Abby standing in his doorway.

"You wouldn't!" He would later deny that the sound was a wail as he spoke.

"How much you wanna bet?!" Abby said, leaving the room with a smirk. He grumbled, untangled himself, and reluctantly trudged to the loo. Five minutes later, a dressed-but-still sleepy-looking-Connor made his way into the kitchen. Abby rolled her eyes at him and passed him a mug of coffee, sipping at her own tea as she got ready to go. A few moments of Connor grumbling as he munched on toast with butter, and Abby rolled her eyes again and disappeared into the loo.

"Connor! Again?!"

"Wha'?"

"Your boxers, Connor. Are you that sleep-deprived that you can't remember not to leave them around?!" She snapped at him.

"Oh. Sorry." He was, but she was sort of right. He'd been working like crazy to get the ADD back up to speed as well as build his anomaly locking device.

She made an irritated noise and kicked the boxers into the hall with her foot, closing the door in his face.

* * *

"Hey, Conn?" He looked up from the ADD, fingers stilling over the keys.

"Yeah, Abbs?" He asked, curious.

"Sorry. About earlier, I mean. I know things are hard. You've been coming home exhausted, I shouldn't expect you to remember everything first thing in the morning." She admitted, leaning on his shoulder to look at the screen.

"Eh, it's alrigh', Abbs. I should've known better than ta leave 'em around, yeah? But thanks, for apologizing I mean... What're you doing?" He furrowed his brow in confusion.

"How do you even understand any of this, Conn?" She asked, somewhere between amused and impressed. He grinned easily.

"Dunno, comes easily to me."

"Why'd you choose Paleontology in the first place, then?" She asked, sitting down in the other chair and swiveling around.

"Well, computer stuff's really easy for me, y'know. I could hack my school's systems by the time I was 8. But I always loved dinosaurs, and fossils, and it was more of a challenge for me than computer programming or somethin' like tha." He told her with a chuckle. She raised her eyebrows, smiling at him.

"You hacked your primary school's computer system? Why?" She asked, laughing.

"Y'know Duncan? Me 'n him, we knew each other since we were really young. He knew how smart I was, told me I was a bloody genius, since I could've been promoted at least three times, but I turned 'em down." She wondered why, but she wanted to hear the rest of the story. "So, we had a really mean, nasty old berk of a teacher, an' He didn't like me or Dunc at all, dunno why. I hacked in, messed around a bit on his private computer he'd hooked up ta the main system, and I found a video."

"Oh?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, really embarrassing. His ex-wife'd recorded him talking in his sleep, singing in the shower, stuff like tha'. So I took tha', uploaded it to every computer in the whole school, and didn't even get suspected of it!" Connor finished, laughing easily for the first time in days, and she joined in, grinning.

"Wow, wouldn't have thought you'd be the one ta prank a teacher, Conn." She told him, still chuckling.

"You should've seen what me, Dunc, and tom got up to at uni." He said, with another flash of that wicked, mischievous grin. Which faded a moment later as he realized what he'd said.

"Connor..."

"I'm fine." It was almost snapping, except that his tone was more weary than irritated.

"Well, don't go back to work just yet, it's past lunchtime now. C'mon. Becker and Jenny are probably wondering where we are..." Abby said slowly, leaning forwards.

"They'll know I'm here, working on the ADD like I'm supposed to, and you're going ot be on your way back, yeah?" He said shortly, trying to avoid her gaze.

"You're not hungry?" She gave him a careful, searching look.

"No." His stomach protested loudly at that moment, and he met Abby's eyes, cheeks a little pink. "Maybe. Sort of."

"Idiot." She said with a chuckle, grabbing his hand and towing him after her to the break room.

"Abby!" He whined, but was grinning as he caught up to her and they walked side-by-side through the corridors of the ARC.


	10. Chapter 10 Part 1

_Jack's living with Abby, Connor's moved out and is staying in the ARC. Things are okay between them despite this - connor was just happy to discover that 'jack' was her brother and not a boyfriend - although they both miss living with each other. Heroic!Connor, Balaur raptor, team, and jack's being irritating and troublesome per usual._

* * *

_Part One: Woops_

"Abby, watch out!" She heard Connor's voice and looked up from her mobile immediately, eyes wide. Double overlarge claws on each foot, feathers, sharp teeth, and a yellow, slit-pupiled eye filled her vision. She held her breath, carefully considering her options as she slipped the mobile in her pocket. She silently cursed at Jack; usually she was the observant one, the one who never got distracted at an anomaly call. The Raptor lumbered closer, she took a single step back, eyeing it cautiously. If she didn't make any sudden movements, she might be able to back towards Jenny and Becker, who stood with guns pointed at the creature. The angle was wrong. She shifted to the left a little, one step at a time. It hissed - unlike the velociraptors in the mall, this one didn't have spikes, but it's feathers still ruffled - and its claws clicked against the pavement. She was about to dive out of the way, hoping one of them would get a shot in with the tranq, or at least that it would give her time to draw and load her own tranq pistol.

"Oi! Feathers!" A familiar voice called out. The familiar, dark-haired someone was a blur as he darted between her and the raptor, drawing it's attention and running in the opposite direction, towards the glittering anomaly.

"Connor!"

"Open the anomaly!" He yelled to the soldier standing by the locking mechanism, glancing over his shoulder at the raptor that was now chasing him.

* * *

_Three hours earlier..._

He couldn't get used to this, Connor thought with a grumble as he stumbled out of his makeshift bed and over to the counter in his lab, changing clothes as he walked. Still half-asleep, despite the incessant ringing of the alarm he'd set in the background (and somehow, he'd managed to get up on time today), he poured coffee into his mug and leaned against the counter as he added what Abby always told him was way too much sugar and creme. Connor smiled a little at the thought, of Abby's teasing, fond tone.

_"Want a little Coffee with your sugar, Conn?"_

Honestly, he'd have prefered to be waking up in the flat, nearly falling down the loft stairs on his way to the kitchen, and talking and laughing with Abby as they got ready for work. But he'd have to get used to this sooner than later. It was supposed to be only temporary, which was a relief - Abby's younger brother Jack had comandeered the loft space, and Connor had moved out.

**_Anything for Abby._**

Connor sighed, finished the coffee, hit the off button on the alarm clock, and left his lab, heading down the hallway to the main ops room.

* * *

"Jack! Jack, I'm heading to work!" Abby waited a beat, but heard nothing from the upstairs loft. Frowning, she started up the stairs. She stopped at the landing, making a face. Connor may have been a messy kind of person, but he was at least a great deal better than her brother about cleaning up and the like. Usually, at least. At least Conor responded by cleaning up immediately if she asked him to, and the first time (most of the time). If she asked Jack to clean up around the flat, he gave her this look and rolled his eyes, nodding. It never got done. The only reason she was even letting him stay was because he was her only family - she didn't like his habits, or really _like_ him that much at all, but she did love her brother.

"Jack, wake up. Right now."

The figure buried under his blankets made a groaning sort of noise and slowly peeked out at her.

"I did warn you, Jack. You can get drunk if you want, but I am not letting you laze around because you gave yourself the hangover of the century, yeah? Up!" She told him.

"But Abby!"

"Stop whining, you sound like a five year old!" She tried to keep the irritation out of her voice, she really did.

"Oh, piss off."

"The flat better be cleaned-" She lifted the edge of a pizza box he'd left lying around. "-by the time I get home, or so help me..."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Got it, Abby. Now shoo don't want to be late for feeding the elephants, do we?" He said, pressing a hand to his forehead at the headache she knew he had. She smirked a little, nodding.

"Oh, and no parties - I can't stop you from gambling and partying otuside the flat, but not in!" She added as she left the loft.

* * *

_Now_

Jack had called her - twice. And texted her. And called again. She had meant to just check it quickly and then turn her mobile on silent so it wouldn't startle any creatures. But then the raptor they were tracking leapt out of the bushes, and she was distracted by her mobile at the crucial moment.

And now it was chasing Connor - her Connor, her best friend - towards the anomaly. Abby forgot about Jack for just a moment, and gave chase as well. She pulled out her tranquilizer gun, loaded it with a dart, and took aim, biting her lip and steadying her arms against her hip.

The dart hit the raptor, sinking into the Balaur's father-covered skin for a single moment before it dropped out and onto the ground, rolling away.

"Damn it!" Why did the darts always do that on the first shot? She fumbled, stopping for a single moment to load another dart. Sarah, crouched near the anomaly with the locking mechanism, pushed a few buttons and then backed off. The anomaly pulsed once and then the shards of spinning light expanded from the near-perfect sphere of before.

The raptor straightened, seeming more attentive now, watching Connor carefully as the human ran through the anomaly. Connor vanished from view and the raptor followed, hissing and snapping at him.

She was panicking within three minutes.

At five minutes, she pushed her way past Becker and Jenny, who only half heartedly tried to stop her from going after Connor, and stepped through. Of course they were a step behind her, as was one of Becker's soldiers. The anomaly led to the cretaceous, but Connor had gathered from the description of the raptor beforehand that this anomaly didn't lead to the same area of the cretaceous - it led to an island, isolated for so long as to cause the adaptations they had seen in the Balaur. Two sickle-shaped hind claws rather than one, and a relatively large, bulky build for a raptor.

But Abby didn't care about that at the moment. Connor was missing, and her mind kept imagining all the horrible things that could have happened to him. It should have taken him a moment, lead it through and then jump back into their time so they could lock the anomaly. Easy as pie. Obviously not with Connor on the job, however. She shook her head, frowning at her thoughts. She knew why she was being mean to him, and that made her more irritated. She was totally in love with her best friend, and the thought scared her, not to mention that there was a gut-clenching fear that something bad had happened to him. She could only hope that he was kipped up in a tree or a cave somewhere, something like that. As safe as possible in this time.

* * *

His head hurt. The first thing he registered as he regained consciousness was not so out of the ordinary for Connor. He was always hitting his head. Regular hazard when your job dealt with dinosaurs.

The second was that his whole body hurt, too. It was dark. No - he amended- his eyes were closed. He opened them, looking around him. He froze. He was sprawled on the ground in a shallow cave, and nearby were two Balaur raptors. One, slightly smaller and a paler coloration, with blue streaks by its eyes, was sitting... Oh. A nest, with eggs.

He was prey, live-caught for the baby raptors' first meal.

Wonderful.

* * *

_TBC in part 2_


	11. Chapter 10 Part 2

AN: errors in part 1 edited, and sorry if it feels like I jumped from injured to backtonorm stuff too soon.

Chapter 10 part 2: innocence and a hat

"Abby." Jenny tried to get her attention, but the blonde was either ignoring her, or, more likely, was too concerned for her former flatmate to pay attention.

"Abby!" Jenny Lewis hissed, taking her team member by the shoulders for a moment. Becker stayed on guard with the other soldier, watching with wary eyes for anything dangerous around them. Abby looked at Jenny, eyes wet with tears that were threatening already.

"What?"

"We need to think this out, okay? We can't just wander off into the forest, we need to keep track of where the anomaly is, and it won't help Connor if we get ourselves lost, right?" Abby blinked, nodding slowly. Trust Jenny to be the voice of reason at a time like this. Their PR woman had come a long way fro the uptight lady who'd been aloof. Abby managed a little smile, but her eyes quickly went back to scanning for any sign of Connor.

"Captain Becker, are there any track markers in that emergency kit of yours?"

"Yep, after the last time, I made sure to pack them."

"Which way's it gone?!" Abby tried to keep the desperation out of her tone. SHe hoped Connor was okay. She was afraid she wouldn't be able to find him in time.

* * *

Connor moved carefully, slowly, lest his quicker movements hurt him or draw the raptors' attentions to him. It felt like a little man was beating the inside of his head like a drum. A painful, constant beat that had him wincing and his stomach doing flip-flops. Every part of his body hurt or ached in some way. had he been dragged through the underbrush or something? His back and his right ankle were the worst, though when he slowly lifted a hand to the back of his head, it came away bloody. Not life-threatening. Headwounds always bleed a lot. That didn't mean it didn't hurt just as badly as the internal headache.

Connor inched forwards, biting down on his lip hard when the movement of his ankle made his whole leg flare with pain.

Okay, that was a no-go. He had to sit up. He did so, very slowly, keeping a watchful eye on the predators who were broody over their nest. If he wasn't feeling so bad, Connor probably would've marvelled at the chance to see the moment. But, as he could not feasibly get away on his own in the state he was in, the moment was just terrifying.

"Abby..." He murmured, shifting to hands and knees, holding his breath as he jarred his ankle, fighting to keep himself steady as he crawled along the floor of the cave. A glance over his shoulder told him two things.

One, he most certainly did not want to end up like the somethingasaurus bones littering the back of the cave. And two, the parents weren't watching him. That was definitely a good thing. Connor held no aspirations that he would get very far like this, but maybe it would be far enough.

* * *

"He was wearing a hat today." Abby suddenly commented, running her fingers over the prehistoric dirt she was crouched upon. Jenny raised an eyebrow, Becker blinked for a moment, before brightening.

"If it fell off his head, we might get a better idea of where he's gone." They had left the other soldier near the anomaly and had chosen a random direction, marking with a spray can of red paint on trees and boulders as they walked.

"Exactly!" Abby said, smiling a little. Jenny nodded, heading off a little ways, to look for traces of Connor's black felt hat.

* * *

A sudden screech from behind him made Connor panic, scramblign to escape the deadly claws. He jerked his injured ankle, and then searing pain hit both his leg and his back, and Connor blacked out with a scream.

* * *

"Becker, Abby! Here it is!" Jenny called, pointing to a slightly crushed but otherwise undamaged black trilby, half hidden by some bush like greenery.

"What?!" Abby exclaimed, running over as quickly as she could. Becker glanced over, but as worried as he was for Connor, he had to stay on guard if they weren't going to be. He had to make sure that they all came back alright. "Oh my gosh... Connor..." There was blood on the hat, a very small amount on the brim, but it was there.

"I'm sure he's alright." He said softly, trying to sound confident.

_He's gotta be okay_. Becker finished silently.

"I-" A sudden tell-tale scream broke the relative silence of the primeval forest, and Abby gasped, eyes wide. "That's Connor - Connor! Hang on Conn!" She yelled, tearing off in the direction of that pained cry. Becker and Jenny again did not hesitate for a single moment before following.

* * *

"Connor!" He cracked open an eye, and winced. This headache was definately worse than the last. And there was a lot more pain all over than before. Abby. That was her voice, her soft hand on his bruised cheek.

"Abby?" He was pulled into a sudden hug, but she gasped and slowly let him down when his response was a sharp little cry of pain. He couldn't help it. He wanted the hug, but his body did not.

"Oh, Connor, I'm so sorry. What hurts? Do you know what happened?"

"Uhm... Everything. Me ankle and me back're the worst... me head hurts something fierce 's well... I'm not sure... I woke up here... oh." He paused. "The raptors are gone... or did you move me?"

Abby's cheeks were wet, why were they wet? He had a hand stroking her cheek gently, mimicking the touch of her's on his face.

"We had to move you." Her voice was strained. His brain was muzzy, he couldn't focus well. Connor explained as best he could, in a halting, tentative manner, pressing as close as he could.

"Abby? Is he awake?" Jenny's voice popped up from behind them.

"Jenny? 'we'?" He blurted, surprised. Only a little, though. The team cared for its own.

"Becker, too, Conn." Abby told him. He shifted uncomfortably, wishing he didn't hurt so much that the prospect of trying to cuddle up to Abby left him imagining how much pain he would be in.

"I don't... understand... they didn't k.. kill... me..."

"Connor?"

"Sleepy."

"Don't go to sleep!"

"Mhhh?"

"Connor!"

* * *

He woke in hospital the next day. Sprained ankle, bruised ribs, no damage ot his skull, and a few lacerations from being dragged along the forest floor on his back and legs. Abby stayed until the nursing staff kicked her out, and she was back the next day, until later that evening when he was discharged.

Connor wondered if it was a bad thing that he wanted to stay in hospital for a little while longer. He had to go back to the ARC, facing reality where he no longer lived with Abby, but rather in the cold, white-walled-and-floored lab at the ARC. At least in the hospital, she was always there.

* * *

"Abby, is it okay if I come over? It's movie night..." Her bright smile answered him, and Connor relaxed in relief.

"Sure! You know, it's sort of Jack's fault you were injure. IF he hadn't been bugging him on my mobile, I would've been watching more carefully to begin with." She told him. He tilted his head.

"That's a yes?"

"Yes, Conn. He can afford a day out of the flat, and like I said, it's only temporary. We've no reason to end a tradition for him, yeah?"

"Great! I'll even let you pick which to watch!"

* * *

The one good thing about a romantic film, was that Abby would snuggle up close to him, her resting on his chest, his arm across her shoulders. He could pretend they were a couple, for a little while at least. He wondered, noticing out of the corner of his eye as two of the characters in the film kissed, but mostly watching Abby watching the movie, what it would be like to kiss Abby.

It wasn't the first time he'd thought about it, to be honest. Maybe at Christmas time. Mistletoe could work wonders for their sort of relationship, so Connor had heard.


	12. Chapter 11 part 1

_S3, post the fungus creature episode. connor hasn't told abby exactly what happened that day, he edited him nearly freezing to death right out of it. abby has the idea for some team bonding - dinner out!_

* * *

Abby closed her lab behind her, listening to the hiss as the door shut all the way while she walked down the corridor towards the main ops room. The large double doors at the end of the hall swung open when she pushed, and she smiled as she entered. Connor was poking at the artefact again, Sarah was there too, as usual, both suggesting ideas and trying them out. Abby's grin faded a little. The ARC was, in a way, quieter, with the death of Cutter, and Jenny's resignation.

Suddenly Danny dashed through, laughing about something, and exited through the same doors she'd just let swing behind her. A few moments later, Captain Becker followed, clearly annoyed about something. Abby chuckled. Then again, the ARC was rarely quiet, with Danny around. Her thoughts wandered.

Her old lab had been compeltely cleaned by a biohazard team, but she'd been uncomfortable with the idea of working in there, and Lester had given her one of the spare labs. She'd spent most of the day setting it up, since there hadn't been any anomaly calls. Connor, she knew, had been fussing with the ADD again that day, something about upgrades to make sure it caught the anomalies the exact nanosecond they opened. Sarah had suggested somethign to do with the artefact, now that she'd cleaned it up. Instead of it lyign on the table in Sarah's lab, it was now in something Connor had thrown together, a sort of base for it. Abby had only noticed since she'd been in and out of her own lab multiple times, and Connor's made sure to clue her in.

Danny was making it his 'thing' to check the security, and he and Becker had turned it into a sort of game - Danny finding all the cracks in security, and trying to 'break in', and Becker doing his best to catch him. Then they would go over it all and find out how to tighten the security system up. Abby knew that, because one of the ways in had been through the ventillation system. Danny showing up in her lab out of the blue, followed by Becker enterign through the door like a normal person, had spurred the two men to explain it to her, lest she kickbox them to kingdom come.

Connor looked up and saw her, and waved cheerily, setting down the tool in his hand and bouncing over. For the most part, her former flatmate was at least outwardly the same naive, childish boy as ever. But she knew that beneath the playful grin and his general cheer was a much less naive man. Cutter's death had hit him hard. She'd heard him mumbling, "not again", when they'd thought they'd lost Jenny. He was a little broken inside, and as much as he was less unflinchingly cheerful, Abby wasn't at all sure she liked the changes. It was all Helen's fault. Abby pushed the thoughts away and smiled at him, meeting him halfway.

"Hey, Abbs! How's the lab comin' along?" He asked her. Connor was easy to read, his expressions and his eyes giving away whatever he was feeling or thinking nearly all the time - he was worried about something. There was a tiny crese between his eyes and he was biting his lip.

"I'm basically done, for today at least." She told him, shrugging a little.

"Were you able to get more seedlings of those plants that were in your old lab?" That! He was worried she was upset at him over the loss of the plants? He looked at the floor and then back at her.

"Conn, you're not still worried over that? I said it wasn't your fault that the fungus and the cold killed the plants off."

"I guess..." She swatted at his arm, smirking a little. "It's fine, Connor, really. I've got a few of them, and I'll be able to contact the people I got them from to replace the rest soon enough. After all, I did tell you to take the sample in there, and then Christine's idiot really ruined everything."

Connro nodded, much happier now. It was true. He didn't want to talk any more about the other day, though - he'd nearly died, and then Jenny really had, and then right after they'd managed to bring her back, Jenny had quit. Wasn't his favorite day on the job. He hadn't told Abby exactly what had happened with her lab - he'd edited it. With Jenny dying for a whole minute, his near death experience seemed nothing in comparison. It wasn't worth mentioning.

"Alright, alrigh', just don't hit me again, yeah?"

"I can't make any promises." She told him mildly, grinning. He chuckled in response. "Anyway, I wanted to see if you and Sarah, and Becker and Danny, wanted to go out for dinner? I mean, we can't really talk about work at all, but it should still be fun." Abby suggested, tilting her head slightly. "Since it's almost the end of the day and there isn't much reason to hang around here."

"Erm, it's fine by me!" Connor planned on getting there as early as possible so he could make sure he got a seat next to Abby. They'd gone out as a team once in a while, in the past, but not often, and not at all since Cutter's death. He hope Abby would pick a different place to eat. They usually went to the pub, but he had a feeling that Abby wanted them to actually sit down and eat dinner around a table. He was looking forwards to it - mostly because he wasn't used to not living with Abby.

It was weird, living at Lester's place. He'd lived in Abby's flat - their flat, as they'd moved to a different one and he was paying an equal amount of the rent now, or was until he'd made room for Jack - for the last 3 years of his life. Sarah was eager enough - and Connor would bet she wanted to sit next to Captain Becker... or maybe Danny? Connor wasn't compeltely sure. The other two members of their team had agreed. Connor was practically bouncing with excitement for the next hour after Abby retreated to the break room, and Connor and Sarah had gone back to trying to figure out the artefact.

* * *

TBC in part 2

_AN: I have a question for readers, actually... should I use the trope of an anomaly __interrupting dinner? Or just see where this takes them? hmmmm I'm quite torn between __the two, and I'd be afraid of the anomaly being an easy way out._


	13. Chapter 11 Part 2: The Dinner

AN: Sorry 'bout the long wait guys! :V RL caught up to me and threw tons of classwork at me, and I lost my inspiration for a bit :P But it's back! :D As ever, thanks for the reviews and hope you enjoy this chapter! It's the dinner :3 I'm really pleased at how it came out, actually.

* * *

Abby glanced over at Connor across the tabletop, the chatter of her friends fading into background noise for a moment, mixing with the soft music playing over the sound system. Despite getting to the restaurant earlier than everyone else, thanks to a trip to the gent's, Connor ended up across from Abby rather than next to her. For some reason, though, he wasn't complaining like she thought he would've. Connor was laughing at something Becker, who was sat next to him, had said. It had been surprising to find, that outside of work, perfect-hair unrelenting-soldier Becker had a real sense of humor and a knack for telling jokes.

She smiled as she watched Connor, his golden-brown eyes bright and sparkling as he laughed, and had to give herself a mental shake out of the moment. Danny raised an eyebrow at her, smirking, and she kicked him in the shin to stop him from saying whatever it was on his mind.

Danny grunted, and the others looked at him in concern. He rolled his eyes at her, and at her hidden glare, sighed. Sarah, who was sitting on the other sde of Danny, next to Connor, fought to keep her grin off her face as she realized what Abby had done.

"Sorry, accidentally banged my knee into the beam." Danny said, and everyone either chuckled or smirked, and went back to eating.

Connor was staring longingly at Abby's salad, and when she noticed, she shook her head in amusement.

"Conn, why didn't you just order a salad?"

"Because, I don't want all of it, and' it'd be a waste of money..."

"You're looking at her salad like it committed a crime against you by not being on your plate, mate." Danny said with a chuckle. Connor raised a confused puppydog look to meet Danny's gaze.

"Wha'?"

Abby rolled her eyes, and passed her cherry tomatoes over to Connor, whose eyes lit up again as he grinned at her.

"Thank you Abby." He sing-songed in response, and she couldn't help but chuckle. The others exchanged looks, and a secret bet was passed from Becker to Danny. The only reason Abby didn't notice was that Connor had brought up Jurrasic Park, and they'd started to bicker over whether or not it was still a good film, in light of their jobs. They'd bantered about it before, but never settled the debate, and it was a fun topic.

Besides that, it was also safe.

* * *

Connor had changed his order three different times earlier, and when the food finally arrived, he'd almost changed his mind again. Only a glare from Abby made him sink back in his seat and accept what he'd ordered. Becker snickered.

Half of the paper cover of a straw hit him in the cheek, and Sarah whistled innocently. A few moments later, they were acting like children, pieces of paper wrappers flying everywhere, until Connor dared to threaten Danny with a spit ball if he didn't quit it, and Abby finally sat back and warned the others that their food was getting cold. After that, they calmed down a bit, several moments spent just concentrating on eating.

"Why did the Velociraptor cross the road?"

Three groans, and the joke was repeated, the person telling it insisting that it wasn't going to be dumb.

"But, why would there be a road in the cretaceous, anyway?"

"Connor, it's a joke!"

"Plus- mrflfmf" someone covered someone's mouth with their hand before the rest of the restaurant heard something they weren't supposed to about the ARC. The someone whose voice was muffled glared at the other.

"Can you guys just behave for a few minutes?" Abby said, exasperated. Sarah chuckled, glancing her way.

"I don't think they can, Abby. They're guys, after all." She said with a grin. Abby laughed, ignoring the mock-outraged looks on the guys' faces.

"Oi, whatd'ya mean by tha'?" Danny exclaimed, poking Sarah's shoulder across the tabletop. The archaeologist swatted at his hand.

Connor rolled his eyes at Becker, who was biting his lip to keep from laughing, as Sarah and Danny somehow started arguing about that topic, and when Abby toed his shoe, Connor gave her the kicked puppydog look. When she didn't show leniancy, he only smiled and went back to eating. After a few moments, the argument dissolved into more idle chatter and the sounds of them eating their meals.

* * *

"Can we get desert, Abbs?"

"Why do you need desert?"

"'Cause! They've got th' best blueberry pie in London!" Now Abby was reconsidering her earlier opinion that Connor, who'd chosen the place, had just picked out at random. She realized that they rarely talked about their lives before they'd met, apart from a few quips about uni from him and work from her, and wondered if and when

Connor had eaten in this restaurant before tonight.

"What's so special about the blueberry pie here, Temple?" Becker asked, sounding dubious. Connor rounded on him with wide eyes.

"Don't answer him, Conn, he's just trying to provoke you." Abby cut off the snappish comment on the tip of Connor's tongue, and he sat back, glaring at Becker, who rolled his eyes.

"I think I'd like to see what the pie tastes like. What about you, Danny?" Was Sarah's comment on the discussion. Danny nodded, watchign and listening with mischief in his eyes.

"No-one's going to ask me?" Becker piped up, a single eyebrow raised.

"You clearly don't like the idea. So I don't think you should get any." Connor sniped. Abby failed to hide her chuckle. Both men glared at her, though Connor's gaze softened much quicker. Abby had to look away after a moment, feeling uncomfortable with the reality that despite all the walls she had up, Connor was still sneaking his way into her heart.

"Fine, sorry, Connor." Becker said grudgingly.

"Much better." The geek said cheerily, grinning triumphantly at Abby, who tried to hide her grin in looking down at the table.

"Okay, let's order pie! Should we share a piece?" Sarah asked, looking at Connor. He was still staring at Abby, eyes bright. Abby looked up and frowned when she felt her cheeks warm in response to the look in her best friend's eyes. It was getting harder and harder to avoid letting herself fall for him. And recently she'd begun wondering why she was trying not to.

"Earth to Connor!" She called to him. His cheeks turned red and he looked at Sarah instead.

"Huh?"

"Does it make sense to share a piece of pie?"

"Oh, erm, Maybe two pieces between us five?"

"Sounds good to me."

They all admitted that Connor was absolutely right: the best blueberry pie they'd ever tasted, for sure.

Both Abby and Connor were reluctant to end the fun night the five of them had been enjoying together - and more specifically, they were reluctant to go their separate ways until the next day at work. Not for the first time, Abby wished she had the courage to tell her little brother to leave. Jack was a nuisance and didn't care about anyone but himself, and he was constantly getting on her nerves. She'd prefer to have Connor living with her, just because it had been the norm for the two of them for 3 years now. He wished he'd suggested sleeping on the couchinstead of moving out when she'd broached the subject originally. Or gathering his courage to tell her how he thought, at the very least. But despite the occasional signs that Abby was starting, maybe, just maybe, to feel more than just friendship towards him, he was still too afraid of loosing his best friend and the love of his life. He was content, somewhat, to settle with what he had instead of risking it all.


End file.
